Chapter 3: the law of succession: death testate or intestate

1. 
   succession
   
2. 
   testacy
   
3. 
   statutory will
   
4. 
   legacy and bequest
   
5. 
   escheat
   
6. 
   nuncupative will
   
7. 
   holographic will
   
8. 
   living will
   
9. 
   affinity
   
10. 
    consanguinity
    

1. One that is made orally

2. 
   The passage of an intestate decedent's property to the state when there are no surviving blood relatives or a spouse
   

2. 
   Related by blood through a common ancestor
   

2. 
   Related by marriage
   

2. 
   A fill-in-the-blank will that is created and authorized by statute in a few states
   

2. 
   A separate document that concerns the withholding or withdrawal of life support
   

2. 
   Replaced by the term devise under the UPC
   

2. 
   The act of acquiring property from a decedent by will or by operation of law when the person dies intestate
   

9. 
   One that is handwritten
   

9. 
   Death with a valid will
   

1. 
   ANS: F
   
2. 
   ANS: E
   
3. 
   ANS: J
   
4. 
   ANS: I
   
5. 
   ANS: C
   
6. 
   ANS: H
   
7. 
   ANS: D
   
8. 
   ANS: A
   
9. 
   ANS: G
   
10. 
    ANS: B
    

1. 
   States that allow holographic wills generally require that the wills also be signed by witnesses. ANS: F
   

Correct. Such wills might not even require dates.

Incorrect. Generally, such wills do not require witnesses.

2. 
   A living will states where the decedent wishes his/her children to be raised. ANS: F
   

Correct. A living will concerns decisions about life-sustaining treatment.

Incorrect. A living will concerns only the decedent.

3. 
   Abatement can cause the gifts made in a will to be reduced or even eliminated. ANS: T
   

Correct. Abatement is a proportional reduction of legacies and devises in a will.

Incorrect. Abatement involves paying the decedent’s taxes, debts, and expenses.

4. 
   If a person dies intestate, his or her property passes automatically to the state. ANS: F
   

Correct. Property generally goes to the nearest surviving kin.

Incorrect. Property passes to the state only if no heirs can be found.

5. 
   Common law computation is used to determine the degree of relationship between the decedent intestate and a potential heir.
   

Correct. It counts up to the decedent, and then back down to the heir.

Incorrect. It counts up to the decedent, and then back down to the heir.

6. 
   When a spouse dies intestate, the surviving spouse’s rights to the decedent spouse’s estate are determined by state statute and by which other family members survive the intestate.
   

Correct. When there is no will, state statutes determine the distribution of the estate.

Incorrect. The surviving spouse may be granted an elective share with other relatives getting the rest.

7. 
   In some states, if a person marries after making a will, the marriage revokes the will. ANS: T
   

Correct. Numerous states give the omitted spouse a share of the estate.

Incorrect. The majority of states allow a statutory forced share.

8. 
   A revocable living trust set up by a person for the benefit of his/her children from a prior marriage may be revoked by the second spouse upon the death of the person who set up the trust.
   

Correct. Such a trust is revocable only while the person is alive.

Incorrect. A revocable living trust becomes irrevocable upon death.

8. 
   Only the living, natural, marital children of a man or woman have a right to his/her estate upon death. ANS: F
   

Correct. Adopted, nonmarital, and posthumous children generally have the right to inherit.

Incorrect. Nonmarital, adopted, and posthumous children generally have the right to inherit.

8. 
   In some states, a homestead allowance may be granted in place of a homestead exemption. ANS: T
   

Correct. This allowance is not subject to creditors’ claims.

Incorrect. The homestead allowance is a priority payment to the surviving spouse and/or minor children.

1. 
   Which is NOT a basic type of will?
   
   1. 
      Joint will
      
   2. 
      Holographic will
      
   3. 
      Statutory will
      
   4. 
      Living will ANS: D
      

Correct. This is a separate document governing the withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment.

Incorrect. This is the will of two persons together (usually spouses).

Incorrect. This is a will written in the maker’s own handwriting.

Incorrect. This fulfills all of a state’s mandatory, formal requirements for a will.

2. 
   Which form of will is NOT made in writing?
   
   1. 
      Statutory will
      
   2. 
      Nuncupative will
      
   3. 
      Living will
      
   4. 
      Holographic will ANS: B Nuncupative will
      

Incorrect. This fulfills all of a state’s mandatory, formal requirements for a will.

Incorrect. A living will is a written document.

Incorrect. A holographic will is written in the maker’s own handwriting.

3. 
   Which is a gift of a fixed amount of money from the assets of a testator’s estate?
   
   1. 
      Specific legacy
      
   2. 
      Residuary legacy
      
   3. 
      Specific devise
      
   4. 
      General legacy ANS: D
      

Correct. It may also be derived from a source established in the estate by a calculated formula.

Incorrect. This is a gift of a particular item or class of personal property in a will.

Incorrect. This is a gift of all the property not otherwise effectively disposed of.

Incorrect. This is a gift of real property in a will.

3. 
   If a decedent left three children and five grandchildren, two of whom are the sons of a deceased daughter, and the per stirpes method of distribution is used, how much of the decedent’s estate will the two children of the deceased daughter receive?
   
   1. 
      One-eighth
      
   2. 
      One-fifth
      
   3. 
      None
      
   4. 
      One-fourth ANS: A
      

Correct. Each child will get an equal share of what would have been received by their mother.

Incorrect. They would each get an equal share under per capita distribution.

Incorrect. They would have the right to their deceased mother’s share.

Incorrect. They would have to split their mother’s share.

3. 
   When a person dies intestate and has no spouse or children, the estate then goes to:
   
   1. 
      Lineal ascendants
      
   2. 
      Other lineal descendants
      
   3. 
      Other next of kin
      
   4. 
      The state ANS: B
      

Correct. These include grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Incorrect. An intestate decedent’s estate goes to ascendants only if there are no descendants.

Incorrect. Blood relatives who are not lineal or collateral relatives are usually last in the order of inheritance.

Incorrect. Property is not awarded to the state unless no other relatives can be found.

6. 
   How long would a decedent and spouse have to be married for the surviving spouse to be entitled to an elective-share percentage of 50 percent of the augmented estate?
   
   1. 
      15 years
      
   2. 
      5 years
      
   3. 
      10 years
      
   4. 
      20 years ANS: A
      

Correct. After 15 or more years, the surviving spouse may claim 50 percent of the estate.

Incorrect. After 5 years, the surviving spouse may claim 15 percent.

Incorrect. After 10 years, the surviving spouse is entitled to 30 percent.

Incorrect. After 15 years, the surviving spouse is entitled to 50 percent.

7. 
   Which of the following is an advantage of a will?
   
   1. 
      It eliminates complicated procedures
      
   2. 
      The probate of a will is generally quick, easy, and inexpensive.
      
   3. 
      It retains privacy and confidentiality about the decedent's property and beneficiaries.
      
   4. 
      It allows a person to leave property to someone who would not be entitled to inherit under intestate succession
      

Correct. This might include close friends or special employees.

Incorrect. A will requires complicated procedures, such as those involved in transferring property ownership.

Incorrect. Probate is time consuming and expensive and adds inconvenience to the decedent’s family.

Incorrect. Wills are filed in the county courthouse of the decedent's domiciliary state and are open to the public and the news media.

7. 
   In orthodox terminology, which of the following refers to the recipient of personal property, other than money, according to a will?
   
   1. 
      Beneficiary
      
   2. 
      Devisee
      
   3. 
      Legatee
      
   4. 
      Heir ANS: A Beneficiary
      

Incorrect. This is the UPC term for a beneficiary.

Incorrect. A legatee is the recipient of money given under the terms of a will.

Incorrect. An heir is the recipient of property of a decedent who did not have a will.

9. 
   After execution of a will, the testator, by an intentional act of ademption, has the right to do all of the following EXCEPT:
   
   1. 
      Add a beneficiary
      
   2. 
      Revoke or cancel a testamentary gift
      
   3. 
      Deliver the gift to the beneficiary before the testator’s death
      
   4. 
      Substitute a different gift for the original one ANS: A
      

Correct. Ademption is the removal or cancellation of a gift in a will, not an addition.

Incorrect. Ademption is the intentional act of revoking, recalling, or canceling a gift.

Incorrect. The testator may also give the gift to someone else, so it is no longer his/hers.

Incorrect. Ademption gives the testator the right to substitute gifts.

9. 
   Which is NOT a general rule of distribution under most states’ intestate succession statutes?
   
   1. 
      If an intestate decedent is survived by a spouse and children who are all born to the surviving spouse and decedent, the spouse receives a lump sum of money and/or a portion of the estate, and the children receive the remainder of the estate equally
      
   2. 
      If an intestate decedent is survived by a spouse and children, some of whom are not the children of the surviving spouse, the spouse receives a lump sum of money and/or a portion of the estate, and only the children born to both the decedent and the surviving spouse receive the other half of the estate.
      
   3. 
      If an intestate decedent has no surviving spouse or kindred relatives, the state receives the decedent’s property.
      
   4. 
      If an intestate decedent has no surviving spouse or lineal descendants but is survived by a parent and other collateral relatives, the parent will receive the estate.
      

Correct. All the decedent’s children get an equal share of the estate.

Incorrect. This is a generally agreed-upon practice in most states.

Incorrect. The state receives the property through escheat.